


Poetry

by scxlias



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 18:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6867826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scxlias/pseuds/scxlias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nursey realizes about halfway through their sophomore year that he’s in love with Dex. </p><p>It hits him like a freight train in the middle of dinner one night and he has to excuse himself immediately; takes off and hides in the bathroom in the Haus, quietly freaking the fuck out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poetry

 

Nursey realizes about halfway through their sophomore year that he’s in love with Dex. It hits him like a freight train in the middle of dinner one night and he has to excuse himself immediately; takes off and hides in the bathroom in the Haus, quietly freaking the fuck out.

When he finally gets himself back under control, Nursey darts back down to the kitchen, says he doesn’t feel well, and runs all the way across campus back to his dorm. He freaks out a little more once he gets there.

He is in love with William Poindexter, the one guy he knows for certain absolutely hates his guts.

And god, does Nursey’s life suck or what?

He tries to hide it. He does. But Ransom and Holster snoop. All the time. Around the Haus, around the other guys’ dorms if they’re ever there, empty classrooms. They’ll dig through anything if given the chance.

So they dig through Nursey’s bag when he comes to the Haus a week and a half later, and one of the first things they come up with is a notebook, a really nice one, leather bound with a tiny latch. Tango has a dozen questions the second they come into the living room with it. Dex just cocks an eyebrow. Lardo stands and leaves immediately, saying, “Plausible deniability. I saw nothing. If Nurse kills you all, I blame Holster.”

She blames Holster, who takes the journal and pops the latch open and enthusiastically flips through the pages as soon as Lardo leaves the room.

They’re all expecting the poetry they find (fucking English majors and their goddamn writing).

What they are not expecting is the subject of it.

They are not expecting poems dedicated to a certain red haired guy on their team. But that’s what they find. There are dozens of lines, short little stanzas covering almost every page in the book, all centering around a boy with red hair and freckles all over his skin who's always ready to fight with Nursey over anything.

Holster starts dramatically reading from the journal the second he and Ransom get over having found it, and it takes about four lines for Ransom to realize, “Holy shit, he’s writing about Dex!” Dex turns bright red and buries his face in his hands.

They’re on the second page, reading a few lines comparing Dex’s freckles to constellations and Dex is peeking through his fingers when Nursey walks into the room.

Lardo is hovering just outside the room, shaking her head.The look on her face has Ransom grabbing the journal from Holster as soon as he sees her. He shoves it into Nursey’s hands with an apologetic smile.

Nursey takes one look at his open journal and the group in the room and his expression falls. He looked almost happy when he’d walked in, but now his face is twisting into a mix of embarrassment and shame and abject horror as he looks between Dex and the journal.

Derek Malik Nurse has never looked more unchill.

He looks terrified.

Nursey snaps the journal shut and bolts.

“Nursey, wait!” Dex shouts, finally standing from his place on the couch. He’s too late. Nursey’s already gone, the front door of the Haus slamming shut behind him.

Lardo holds up a hand and stops both Dex and Ransom in their tracks.

“Oh no. I warned you. That was not cool bro,” she says, and Holster and Ransom both hang their heads. Dex is still bright red. She rounds on him and Tango could swear Dex actually flinches when she does. “You, give him time. All of you. Let him come back when he wants to. And if any of you,” she pointedly glares at Tango, they all know he’s the one who always has a question, “bring this up and make Nurse uncomfortable, I’ll have your hides. Are we clear, boys?”

“Crystal,” the response comes immediately, from the entire team.

* * *

 

Nursey doesn’t come back though.

As a matter of fact, he avoids the whole team, save Chowder and Lardo for a long time. He shows up for practices at the very last second and speaks to no one while he’s there, hardly pays attention during strategy, too busy focused on anything that is not his teammates.

Their next game is a disaster. He and Dex don’t connect on the ice. Every pass they attempt to make doesn’t connect, Nursey can barely bring himself to look at his fellow D-man, Dex is awkward around Nursey. They get pulled from the ice after a while. Samwell loses 4-1. Even Chowder’s goaltending couldn’t save them. Nursey changes and showers faster than anyone else and he’s gone before anyone can say a word.

He’s sitting with Lardo on the back of the bus by the time any of the others get there, his head hung and the corners of his mouth turned down in a frown. He’s got earbuds stuffed in his ears and he’s staring out the window, avoiding looking at any of the guys getting on the bus. He still seems to notice when Dex gets on though, his shoulders tensing, arms crossing over his chest.

He can’t express how grateful he is when Whiskey and Tango take the seats in front of him and Chowder takes the one next to Lardo. Even if they don’t mean to, Nursey’s glad for the barrier between him and William Poindexter. He doesn’t think he could handle the chirping he knows he’s bound to face if he actually let Dex speak to him after the incident with the journal.

Their next game is much the same. Chowder’s goaltending saves their asses this time, and Bitty manages a goal that puts them on the board and they just barely manage the win, no thanks to either of their D-men. Murray and Hall pull them into the office after the next practice to talk to them about it.

Neither coach is happy and Nursey can’t help but notice the way Dex is fidgeting in his chair. He can’t help but notice the way Dex’s expression twists to one of sheer terror when Hall says something about reevaluating their places on the team if they keep throwing games like this.

“It was my fault,” Nursey blurts before he really thinks about it.

“What was that son?” Murray asks.

“Nursey, what the hell?” Dex asks at the same time.

“It was my fault. Our performance on the ice wasn’t a reflection of Will at all. I was the reason the past two games have gone poorly for the defense line. Chris and Will are playing their hardest. If you’re going to be upset with someone about all this, it’s me you should be upset with. This is on me.”

No one says anything for a long time. After what seems like an eternity, Hall just nods at the door to dismiss them. Nursey is out of his chair and gone before Dex can get a word out.

Nursey’s gotten his stuff from the locker room and left before Dex even gets there, and Dex has to sprint to catch up to him.

He’s winded when he finally does, but he catches Nursey just as he’s leaving Faber.

“What the fuck was that Nurse?” Dex asks, dropping his bag and grabbing Nursey’s arm to turn him around.

“Let me go, Dex,” Mursey responds, and his voice is so quiet, Dex barely hears him.

“I’m not just letting that slide, Derek! Tell me what that was about.”

“You know what it was about, Will,” Nursey says, and now he just sounds distressed. Dex doesn’t let up.

“Tell me, Nurse.”

“They’re talking about looking at our positions on the team if we don’t get our shit together. You’re on an athletic scholarship that you really need. I’m not. If they cut me, its not as big of a deal. That’s it, now let me go, Will. Please.”

Dex shakes his head, tightening his grip on Nursey’s arm. “That’s not what  that was and you know it. Tell me the truth, dammit, Derek!”

Nursey sets his jaw and looks Dex dead in the eye, taking a deep breath like he’s trying to calm down. It’s about three seconds before he seems to decide against calming down.

Instead, he rips his arm from Dex’s grasp and shouts. “What the fuck do you want? You want me to say it out loud? Was reading it from my journal not enough for you? I did that cause I care about you, you stupid fucker! I care about you a lot. I like you. I think I might be in fucking love with you!” And Derek Malik Nurse is absolutely losing his chill. “Is that what you fucking wanted? Are you happy now, Poindexter? You get what you wanted? Fantastic. Leave me the fuck alone.”

Dex stands there, shocked, for a minute before he regains the presence of mind to follow after Nursey, scooping up his bag and running after him.

“Derek, wait,” he gasps, breathless, both from the running and from Nursey’s confession. It was one thing to hear it read by Holster. It was another thing entirely to hear it straight from Nursey’s mouth.

“What the fuck now?”

“Did you mean that?”Dex asks, even though he knows the answer to his question.

Nursey scoffs, and god, Dex thinks Nursey might actually be tearing up as he turns around to face Dex. “Are you seriously asking me if I… god, Dex. Look, I know you’re not… you know. I won’t make this weird or whatever. I’ll get over it. I’ll get my shit together and make sure we can play together fine. I’ll leave you be, just drop this.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Dex says without thinking, and Nursey’s face falls. “I don’t want you to get over it.”

“Are you… you’re making fun of me now? I know this isn’t ideal, but I thought you’d at least have the decency not to fucking mock my feelings. Fucking nice man. Great. Leave me the fuck alone, Poindexter.” Nursey’s voice breaks Dex’s heart, because no, no, no, that is not what Dex meant. He has to run to catch up with Nursey again. “I said leave me alone, Dex!” Nursey shouts, and this time he actually takes a swing when he rounds on Dex.

He dodges Nursey’s fist easily, it wasn’t a hard swing anyway and pops up again, catching Nursey’s arms with both hands.

“Derek Malik Nurse. Look at me. I am not mocking you. I’m… I…”

“Spit it out Poindexter.”

“I meant it. I don’t want you to get over it. I don’t mind that you like me.”

Nursey sneers. “What, you like the attention? Not used to being center stage with mommy and daddy so focused on all your siblings, ‘stead of you?” It’s a low blow and Nursey knows it, but Dex doesn’t flinch.

He just shakes his head and drops his bag again, placing a hand on either side of Nursey’s face. “You fucking idiot.”

Any response Nursey may have had is cut off by Dex’s lips crashing into his.

Dex presses their lips together harshly at first, and Nursey feels like he can’t breathe, the whole world coming down to just the two of them standing there outside of Faber. The kiss calms down quickly though, less frantic, deeper, and Nursey could wax poetic about the feeling of Dex’s lips on his, lines running through his head about how fucking right it feels to be pressed up against Dex like this, even though they are in the middle of school grounds in broad daylight.

When they finally part, Dex rests his forehead against Nursey’s and smiles, a little breathless, from the running and Nursey’s confession and from the kiss. “You were thinking about poetry weren’t you, you enormous fucking dork.”

Nursey answer by kissing Dex again. And if he had to suffer through what he just had all over again to get this outcome, he’d gladly re-live the awkwardness a thousand times because kissing Dex is so worth it. 

**Author's Note:**

> So I have officially descended into gay hockey hell. 
> 
> scream at me @ _[epikegsters](http://epikegsters.tumblr.com/)_ on tumblr if you wanna.


End file.
